The present disclosure generally relates to systems and methods for deploying medical devices to genitourinary sites, particularly with reference to catheters and stylets for deploying implantable drug delivery devices in the bladder.
A catheter is a device that is positioned in the body to provide ingress and egress to sites within the body. Often, catheters are employed to provide ingress and egress to genitourinary sites within the body, such as the bladder or other locations within urological or reproductive systems. However, known catheters are not suited for deploying implantable devices into the bladder. Some known catheters are designed for the instillation or drainage of fluid, but these catheters often have narrow interior lumens that are not wide enough for passage of an implantable device. Known systems for implanting devices are often designed for passing the device along an exterior of a guidewire, which presents the risk of damage to the device or the body. Further, most known catheters are not suited for deploying devices that are flexible. Particularly, flexible devices may not be able to exit a distal end of many known catheters without getting lodged or wedged in an exit opening.
A need exists for systems and methods for deploying devices to genitourinary sites in the body. More particularly, a need exists for systems and methods for deploying flexible drug delivery devices into the bladder.